Twitter Is News Source for Nearly 1 in 10 Adults

Traditional news outlets are still important but an increasingly large number of adults are turning to another source for their news. That source is Twitter.

The Pew Research Center issued a report called “Twitter News Consumers: Young Mobile and Educated.

Nearly one-in-ten U.S. adults (8%) get news through Twitter, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Compared with the 30% of Americans who get news on Facebook, Twitter news consumers stand out as younger, more mobile and more educated.

In addition, a separate Pew Research analysis of conversations on Twitter around major news events reveals three common characteristics: much of what gets posted centers on passing along breaking news; sentiments shift considerably over time; and however passionate, the conversations do not necessarily track with public opinion.

Twitter as a news source? I see it to some degree but, for the most part, it seems like a sucker play which can be dominated and gamed by people who know how to get people stirred up.

It may be more of a testament to the ability of the online community to allow those who know how to manipulate it and what can be accomplished.